>Be Loka Iscennah
>College freshman at MU
>In a gateway engineering class as an elective this semester
>The class had been working on a doorway, something you took a great interest in
>And on a particular night, it was left unoccupied by the engineering students
>They left in a hurry for some autumn fear festival
>October 31st, a sacred night for scaring
>You'd never been to the human side, this could be valuable career experience
>You unlocked the door and slipped into the room
>Like a monolith of opportunity, the doorway stood completed on the far end of the room
>You locked the door and stepped over to the control panel
>Activating it wasn't hard, you set it to a random doorway on Earth and watched as the doorway hummed to life
>The light on top flickered on, indicating a successful connection
>You stepped over to the door, standing before it
>You were slightly intimidated by it
>This wasn't the sims, this was the real deal
>A real kid and real danger
>M-maybe this wasn't such a good idea
>You reach for the handle, wrapping your claws around the knob
>Twist it ever so gently
>Push the door open and peek into the room
>It looks empty
>You step in
>It looks like a guest bedroom
>You leave the door cracked and sneak into the hallway
>Down at the end there is a dim light coming from a cracked open door
>You crouch down, disappearing into the shadows and slip into the room
>A game is paused on the big-screen tv
>The controller is left on the couch
>You hear a door click shut in another room and hide
>No footsteps came to your room
>You head back into the hallway
>Enough, time to go back
>You go back to the guest bedroom and find the closet door shut
>Your heart skips a beat
>What if you were trapped here?
>You grab the handle and yank it open
>Thankfully you were greeted with the sight of your classroom
>You hop through the doorway before anything could go wrong
>As you were about to shut the door, the light fizzled out and the gateway collapsed
>You watched as the portal to the guest bedroom dissolved, giving way to the other side of the doorframe
>On the other side of the door stood a human
>He came through the closet when you were in the other room
>"Wh-what?" he stuttered, backing away from you
>Fuck
"Wait wait wait, stay calm."
>"What's going on?!" he clasped his head
"Buddy stay calm, I'm gonna find a way to get you back home."
>"What the hell are you?!"
"Just sit down or something." you go to open the doorway's maintenance panel
>It looks like the central power core was fried
>You shouldn't have left the door open so long
>The human slowly scoots away from you
"Just chill, can you do that?"
>He stays quiet and backs against the wall
>It'd take two months to get a new core in
>Fuck
>If the school found him it'd get traced to you and you'd be expelled
>You go to the control panel and shut everything down
>You go over to the human, fiddling with something in his hands
>He notices you and tenses up
"Hey there."
>No reaponse
"Listen, I need you to come with me and be real calm. Just act like everything is normal."
>"Oh god... What the fuck are you?"
"J-just calm down or we'll both be in hot water, okay?"
>"Please don't kill me, wh-what do you want?" he moves into a corner to get away from you
"Listen to me, I'm not gonna hurt you. Okay?"
>"Okay. Where am I?"
"It's really complicated, but I can explain it all later."
>You close in on him slowly
>The human that stood taller than you balls up in the corner
"I need you to come with me. You can't stay here, can you do that?"
>"Wh-where are you taking me?"
"Uhh, back to my place. Come on, stand up." you grab his hands and help him to his feet
>"You promise you're not gonna kill me?"
"I promise, but we gotta go, like now."
>You grab his hand and pull him to the door and unlock it
>You peek out into the hallways before making your way out of the building to the parking lot
>Nearly home free, you pull on the human's hand and lead him out of the side door of the engineering building
>"Ms. Loka, just what are you doing in the engineering building at this hour?" a familiar voice sent chills down your spine
>You turn to face an approaching Dean Hardscrabble
>The human stands behind you
>"And who is this?" she asks, inspecting him with an unimpressed look
"This... Is, uhm, my friend from off-campus. He had to use the bathroom so I brought him to the bathrooms in this building."
>She stares intensely at him
>"And can you explain why he appears to be human?"
"Costume party, we were invited to a costume party and he's going as a human."
>"Yes, it is Halloween tonight isn't it? I assume you two are going as a couple?" she smirks
>"Just friends." the human blurts
>Dean Hardscrabble seemingly lights up
>"Then perhaps I might accompany him? There's something I quite like about that cologne you're wearing, what is it?"
>"Fear."
>You laugh nervously, messing with a time bomb that could destroy your life and career
>You grab the human by the arm and yank him closer defensively
"We are going as a couple, actually. My boyfriend is such a tease."
>Dean Hardscrabble tightens up again
>"Well then, what was your name?"
>"Anon."
>"You would do best to call me if you feel like handling a real monster. Maybe keep the costume on for me." she winked and turned to leave
>Too damn close
>You keep Anon shoulder-to-shoulder as you get him to the parking lot
"What the hell was that?"
>"I don't know, who was that?"
"Dean Hardscrabble, you almost got me expelled." you hiss
>"Dean? Am I at a fucking college?"
"Yes! We're almost to my car, just follow the story."
>"I'm your boyfriend, we're going to a costume party and I'm dressed as a human."
"Yes." You open the car door and usher him in before getting in yourself
>"How far are we driving?"
"About fifteen minutes."
>You pull out and enter into traffic
>The ride is silent
>The human makes no attempt to communicate and is just watching things go by
"My name is Loka, you're Anon right?"
>"Y-yeah."
>He still seems shaken by this
>You don't blame him for it
>He looks over at you occasionally
"I know you must be scared, but I'm going to fix this."
>As you pull into the lot in front of your complex, you see your neighbor is partying
>Monsters would be in the halls
>Your neighbor was one of those too-friendly types
>You and Anon got out of the car went up to the second floor
>Just as you thought, the halls were filled with drunken party monsters
>Anon clung to your side as you unlocked your apartment door
>The pounding bass went right through the walls
>Anon calmed down just a little, at least he was sort of trusting you
>"You said you'd explain this later. Start talking, Loka." he frowned at you
>After about a half hour explaining how screams are a legitimate power source, he still didn't get it
"It's economics, scaring kids makes energy and there's a lot of money in scaring."
>"But what's with all the doors? Why is an economy around it?"
>He gives up, but seems to understand
>He lays down on the couch and closes his eyes
"You tired?"
>"Very."
"Wanna sleep in my bed?"
>"Where would you be?"
"Maybe in there too."
>"I'll pass."
"It gets pretty cold at night."
>"I said I'm fine."
>You give him a blanket and go to bed
>At 2AM, an ice-cold body pulls back your covers and slides into bed behind you
>You wake up the next morning to Anon's arms wrapped around you
>He didn't seem to want to get up yet
>You slipped out of his grasp and rolled out of bed
>You go to the bathroom and undress, pulling off the undies and shirt you wore, and got into the shower
>The hot water helped you clear your mind
>You try to wrap your head around the situation
>You had a human living in your apartment and wouldn't be able to get him back for at least two months
>And if anyone found out, you'd be in more trouble than you could imagine
>You sit down in the tub, letting the water rain on your belly
>You were forgetting something...
>Something important...
>You start to nod off before snapping back
>Your roommate!
>She was at a party last night, she'd be back any minute
>You shut off the water and dried off as quickly as you could
>You bedroom was right across the main room
>Your door was open, meaning there was a clear line of sight to your bed
>You check the countertop
>You forgot to grab clean clothes
>Your ear flicked, the lock on the front door was being opened
>You rush out of the bathroom and slam your door shut as the front door opened
>"Loka! You'll never guess who I met last night!" she called out
>Anon startled awake
>"Loka? What's happeni- Oh god!"
>You covered yourself with your hands as he turned away
>"Loka? Who's in there with you?" your roommate asked through the thin door
"A friend, let me get dressed, okay?"
>"Yeah, a friend. I wanna see." she sounded annoying and needy
>You just needed some space right now
"In a minute, Jannette!"
>"Don't let her in here!" Anon said quietly
>"Come on Loka, I heard you met a hot guy last night from Hardscrabble's assistant."
"Give me a minute! Let me get dressed!" you shouted
>Jannette stood right outside the door
>You stepped around to get to your closet and grabbed a big sweater and some panties from the dresser
>You hurriedly got them on and pulled Anon out of bed
"Come on, you need to meet my roommate."
>You open the door just a crack and look at Jennette
>"What are you waiting for, let me in Loka." she says
"Okay, but don't freak out."
>You open the door enough to let Jennette in
>She hurries in and looks at Anon
>"What exactly is he?" Jennette was a little shorter than you and hadn't seen humans except for the cartoony depictions on tv
>"I'm a hu-"
>You try to put your hand on Anon's mouth but accidentally go in too hard and smack him
>"Motherfucker!"
"A huge sasquatch, he shaved his fur off for charity last night."
>"Why'd you slap me?"
>Jennette smiles, sinking into her turtleneck slightly like some kind of comfy turtle
>"Will he be staying around often?"
"He'll be staying with me for a month or two."
>"Hi, I'm Jennette." she extends her clawed hand to Anon
>He shakes it, "Anon."
>Jennette jumps onto Anon and does some full-body hug
>"Nice to meet you, Anon! Welcome!"
>You have to pry her off of him
"Hey, it's saturday, do you want to order take-out and just watch a movie or something?"
>"Why don't you ask your boyfriend?" Jennette lightheartedly sneered
>"That sounds good." Anon leaned close to you and rested his chin on your head
>It almost felt real...
>You do your best to not let yourself get caught up in the embrace
>Anon wraps his arms around you
>"Yeah, a movie sounds good." he says
>Jennette heads back to the main room and turns on the tv
>You lead Anon to the couch and he slumps on it, pulling you onto him
>Jennette starts some old comedy movie
>You vaguely remember it being about a hilarious anchorman
>Jennette sits on the other side of the couch
>"So how long have I been out of the loop?" she asks
"Uh, y'know, not too long. I just wanted to make sure-"
>"That ya found yourself a keeper?"
"Uh, y-yeah."
>"It's been about six months." Anon chimes in, locking his hands around your belly
>This was officially couch-snuggling
>First base...
>You suddenly realize something
>You weren't too familiar with human courting ceremonies
>Did Anon think this was real?
>Your face heated up at that thought
>Your first boyfriend
"H-hey Anon, can we talk in the next room for a moment."
>"Sure thing." he helps you up and walks with you back to your room
>Jennette was still digging around for the remote
>You turn to face Anon
"You know this is just fake, right?"
>"I don't think so, you seemed to like it, Loka."
"Yeah, but us as a thing can't happen."
>"It's a shame, a sweet girl like you is a rare find where I'm from."
>You turn away
"It's just until I can find a way to get you back to your side of the door."
>Anon pats your head with a sigh and walks back out to the main room
>He's talking with Jennette right now
>You sit on the side of the bed, conflicted
>He seems to actually like you, and if he weren't human you'd be really into him
>But on the other hand, you'd heard about monsters and humans but that only happened in books
>Damnit Loka, why were you like this?
>You head back out and sit with Anon
>The movie played quietly, Anon let out a deep laugh periodically when he got the humor
>No matter how much you tried to move away, you kept finding yourself cuddled up to Anon
>You'd never noticed it before, but your four-clawed hand fit perfectly with his five-fingered hand
>The evening burned away with several movies, by the time the sun had set you were leaning across his lap
>He somehow managed to rest his chin on your head
>Jennette had fallen asleep on the couch
"Maybe we should wake her up?" you asked quietly
>"I could just pick her up."
"If you want to."
>Anon moved out from under you and stood up, stretching
>You leaned over and picked up Jennette, cradling her in his arms
>Jennette stirred slightly and mumbled something
>Anon walked her off to her bedroom and laid her in her bed
>That looked pretty comfortable
>You kind of wanted to be held too
>Anon sat down next to you on the couch and stared blankly at the dvd menu on repeat on the tv
"Hey, how heavy was she? She won't say what she weighs."
>"Not too heavy, why?"
"You think you could hold me like that too?"
>"Normally I'd charge for that, but you get the girlfriend discount." he grinned and lifted you off of the couch
"Jennette's asleep, you don't need to keep pretending."
>"Who says I was pretending?"
>Anon lays you in bed and climbs in next to you
"That's not okay, I need to get you back to Earth before anyone finds out."
>"Jennette already knows."
"She thinks you're a shaved sasquatch."
>Anon pulls you in close, his nose is against yours
>"Loka, it's all good. In a month or so we can part ways forever and you can always wonder if we would have made a great couple."
"Don't be like that. I just don't want to get attached if you'll be leaving." you roll over
>Anon scoots closer to you and wraps his arms around you
>"We can cross that bridge when we get there." he leans over and kisses your cheek
>"Night, Loka." he says
"N-night."